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montoo

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2011
Messages
23
Got my leaf Delivery last Friday. So far disappointed with the range i am getting. i drove for 22 miles and the range reduced from 88 to 44. Do i need to turn battery heater ON? Am i missing something? Not sure how to get a good range. Temperatures have been what around 40 F and this is what my range is? I now know what "Range Anxiety" means.
 
I guess same was for me on the first day, but after little over 1 month and 2400 miles I am very happy and using car for most of my trips. There is plenty of info here how to drive car to get most miles from charge. Battery heater is automatic, so no need to do anything.
This is nice info what you can expect from Leaf by Tony Williams
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293#p101293
 
montoo said:
Got my leaf Delivery last Friday. So far disappointed with the range i am getting. i drove for 22 miles and the range reduced from 88 to 44. Do i need to turn battery heater ON? Am i missing something? Not sure how to get a good range. Temperatures have been what around 40 F and this is what my range is? I now know what "Range Anxiety" means.

The battery heater is only for extreme cold temperatures to keep it from freezing.

I've been driving my Leaf exclusively for the past two weeks to commute in town, and took into into the Mountains this last weekend. What I've notice is that highway driving - 65 MPH - and elevation increases really affect the range!

I've been charging to 80% every night and for commute and in-town puttering this is working well... the range estimates seem to be pretty close to what I am seeing. I charged to 100% last weekend and took the car up to Evergreen (from Denver) and went from 100 miles range to 32 - while only traveling 30 miles into the hills. However, when I came back down the hills and into town the range was back to up 80 miles! When I finally pulled into my garage, I was back at 29 miles left. For the day I went 63 miles by land and a net difference on the range estimate of 71 miles. Not bad.

So the question is, where are you driving and how fast? Are you in ECO or D?
 
I Just drove 11 miles west on E-470 and back, I had climate control at 64 degrees and was driving just like i drive my gas car... sometimes going at 70-75 mph.
I switched to Eco mode only when i hit local roads. I guess i should've driven at 65 mph on highway.

ampitupco said:
montoo said:
Got my leaf Delivery last Friday. So far disappointed with the range i am getting. i drove for 22 miles and the range reduced from 88 to 44. Do i need to turn battery heater ON? Am i missing something? Not sure how to get a good range. Temperatures have been what around 40 F and this is what my range is? I now know what "Range Anxiety" means.

The battery heater is only for extreme cold temperatures to keep it from freezing.

I've been driving my Leaf exclusively for the past two weeks to commute in town, and took into into the Mountains this last weekend. What I've notice is that highway driving - 65 MPH - and elevation increases really affect the range!

I've been charging to 80% every night and for commute and in-town puttering this is working well... the range estimates seem to be pretty close to what I am seeing. I charged to 100% last weekend and took the car up to Evergreen (from Denver) and went from 100 miles range to 32 - while only traveling 30 miles into the hills. However, when I came back down the hills and into town the range was back to up 80 miles! When I finally pulled into my garage, I was back at 29 miles left. For the day I went 63 miles by land and a net difference on the range estimate of 71 miles. Not bad.

So the question is, where are you driving and how fast? Are you in ECO or D?
 
montoo said:
I Just drove 11 miles west on E-470 and back, I had climate control at 64 degrees and was driving just like i drive my gas car... sometimes going at 70-75 mph.
I switched to Eco mode only when i hit local roads. I guess i should've driven at 65 mph on highway.

I'm still learning and playing around, but lately I've chosen to be in ECO all the time. I believe ECO gives you a little more regen than while in D, which is nice when going down hills around here. You still have all the power as when in D when you want it - so long as your mash down the accelerator.
 
I don't think what you're seeing is too far out of line if you are driving at highway speeds, especially with the climate control on. I always see a drop from 80-100 miles down to 30-50 after the first few highway miles at 65-75 MPH. Note the Guess-O-Meter (GOM) gets more accurate as it gets lower, so 22+44 = 66 miles is not an unrealistic range for driving the Leaf at speed. The EPA estimate is something like 73 miles, which is much more believable than the 100 miles Nissan advertises or where the GOM starts out after an 80% or 100% charge.

montoo said:
Got my leaf Delivery last Friday. So far disappointed with the range i am getting. i drove for 22 miles and the range reduced from 88 to 44. Do i need to turn battery heater ON? Am i missing something? Not sure how to get a good range. Temperatures have been what around 40 F and this is what my range is? I now know what "Range Anxiety" means.
 
Thanks for your responses. As I am learning to drive it more responsibly, my range is getting better in spite of really cold winter nights here in Colorado recently. Appreciate the help.

tjz said:
I don't think what you're seeing is too far out of line if you are driving at highway speeds, especially with the climate control on. I always see a drop from 80-100 miles down to 30-50 after the first few highway miles at 65-75 MPH. Note the Guess-O-Meter (GOM) gets more accurate as it gets lower, so 22+44 = 66 miles is not an unrealistic range for driving the Leaf at speed. The EPA estimate is something like 73 miles, which is much more believable than the 100 miles Nissan advertises or where the GOM starts out after an 80% or 100% charge.

montoo said:
Got my leaf Delivery last Friday. So far disappointed with the range i am getting. i drove for 22 miles and the range reduced from 88 to 44. Do i need to turn battery heater ON? Am i missing something? Not sure how to get a good range. Temperatures have been what around 40 F and this is what my range is? I now know what "Range Anxiety" means.
 
montoo said:
I Just drove 11 miles west on E-470 and back, I had climate control at 64 degrees and was driving just like i drive my gas car... sometimes going at 70-75 mph.
I switched to Eco mode only when i hit local roads. I guess i should've driven at 65 mph on highway.
The biggest hit to range is speed and 70-75 is a major range killer. Aerodynamic drag increases as the square of velocity and the power needed to overcome it increases as the cube of velocity. Drag also affects ICE cars at high speeds but most people pay little attention to the big drop in gas mileage. With the LEAF drag makes a big difference in range. Slowing down will stretch range.

Another hit to range is use of the heater, which takes quite a bit of power. One way to avoid this is to preheat the car while still plugged-in and then use the steering wheel and seat heaters to keep comfortable (they take very little power).

A cold battery will hold less charge than a warm one. If you can park in a garage that doesn't get down to ambient temperature at night that will help range in winter.

If you don't really need all the range then feel free to speed along with the heater blasting. Otherwise, you will need to make some trade-offs. Learning to drive efficiently will stretch the range and can be fun. If you want to drive 70 miles per charge in winter at 70 mph, the LEAF simply won't be able to handle it.

Finally, the distance-to-empty meter is called the "Guess-o-meter" (GoM) around here for a reason: it can be wildly inaccurate under many circumstances because it bases the estimate on how you have been driving lately. Don't assume the numbers you are getting from the GoM are "real". Take a look at Tony William's Range Chart.
 
I'm very savvy when it comes to electronics and technology, but I can't figure out for the life of me how to switch into ECO mode. Please help!
 
GREENEV said:
I'm very savvy when it comes to electronics and technology, but I can't figure out for the life of me how to switch into ECO mode. Please help!
You pull the "mouse" shifter over and down toward you into "D" a second time. You'll then see "ECO" on your dashboard display instead of "D". The shifter toggles back-and-forth between the two modes. Ergo, doing it a third time will shift you back into "D" again.

If this isn't working for you... something is odd!!!
 
Awesome. Thank you very much.

I will try that. The owners manual believe it or not doesn't describe it that way. As a matter of fact it doesn't describe it at all!

If it does, then I missed a paragraph.
 
I know this was brought up before once in another discussion, but I need some more feedback.

At delivery, did anyone notice that the steering wheel is crooked, even though the wheels are aligned?
My vehicle was delivered with a crooked steering wheel, but the car is in alignment.

Thoughts?
 
After the last Snow storm, my car is ready for a wash. What car wash can i go to?
The nearest one is a "Car Wash Express" which has a warning to keep the antenna down and i don't know if leaf antenna can be taken off.
Also it has the system where the automated rail walks the car through the car wash and i don't know how leaf will work with that.
Also what about the base of the car... is it OK for car wash to throw water jets at it? the base has batteries right?
 
Montoo,

Though I'm not sure it's necessary to remove, the antenna unscrews from its base.

When using a track car wash:
Keep the car on.
Drive the car into the track
Hold shift to the left - neutral position - for a few seconds.
Enjoy the foam!!!!

The battery pack is completely sealed and water tight!

No worries!!!!
 
GREENEV,

If the wheel is well off center, take the car to your Nissan Dealer of choice, and have it removed and re-positioned.

This step is often done during major re-alignments.

My guess is that the steering wheel was installed at the factory, while the front wheels were turned slightly.

There are other threads on this subject. Mine is off just slightly. For me, it's no big deal...
 
AmpUpCO said:
Montoo,

Though I'm not sure it's necessary to remove, the antenna unscrews from its base.

When using a track car wash:
Keep the car on.
Drive the car into the track
Hold shift to the left - neutral position - for a few seconds.
Enjoy the foam!!!!

The battery pack is completely sealed and water tight!

No worries!!!!

Thanks that helps...
 
Beware of charging stations where the lock notch is not lifting up normally.
Had a bad experience at a colorado Walgreens, I think because of extreme cold or something, charge point plug's lock is stuck, so i went in, had a little difficulty pulling the plug out of its holder, thought it was not an issue. So, i plugged my car in.
A. The car did not start charging.
B. When i tried to take the plug out, it won't because the lock notch was stuck and the button won't move.
Finally i looked at it closely and lifted the lock's notch up using a screw driver and was able to get it out.

Lesson learnt, if the lock notch on the plug is hard or not lifting up high enough, don't use that charge station. Whew!
 
Date, Location, and Time... all set for the 2nd Leaf meet!

It will be held at the GoNissan Location @ 2400 West 104th Avenue, Denver ---> February 24th at 12pm noon.

Go Nissan will be:

- blocking off some parking for us around their dual L2 charger
- providing a meeting room just inside the parking location
- allow or even provide a grill for hot dogs, burgers, etc.
- etc.

Can I get an idea of who will be there? We will also have some SWAG (including a Nissan Leaf Backpack to a lucky person)
 
batzman said:
Date, Location, and Time... all set for the 2nd Leaf meet!

It will be held at the GoNissan Location @ 2400 West 104th Avenue, Denver ---> February 24th at 12pm noon.

Go Nissan will be:

- blocking off some parking for us around their dual L2 charger
- providing a meeting room just inside the parking location
- allow or even provide a grill for hot dogs, burgers, etc.
- etc.

Can I get an idea of who will be there? We will also have some SWAG (including a Nissan Leaf Backpack to a lucky person)

This month's meet is being moved to April due to other Leaf and EV activities..... date TBD
 
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